For years, Republicans have gulled their followers with the hope that they could "repeal and replace Obamacare" even with Barack Obama wielding a veto pen. They couldn’t, and pretending otherwise was a cynical political ploy. The same can be said of Bernie Sanders’ “Medicare for all” plan, unveiled Sunday just hours before the Democratic debate.

Sanders thinks a single-payer government-run system is the only way to provide universal care at an affordable cost. That's not so: Many countries manage to cover everyone by other means. But the more immediate defect with his plan is that it has zero chance of being enacted.

Has Sanders forgotten how hard it was for Obama to get his plan passed — even though it resembled previous Republican plans, like the one created by Mitt Romney when he was governor of Massachusetts? And Obama had a Democratic Congress. The next Congress is likely to feature Republican control of one or both chambers.

To suggest President Sanders would be able to force a far more dramatic change through Congress is deluded or dishonest. His proposal serves only a political purpose: to suggest he’s bolder and more faithful to Democratic values than Hillary Clinton.

Building on Obamacare to expand coverage beyond the 90 percent of Americans who now have health insurance, as Clinton proposes, may sound less thrilling than junking it in favor of what people on the left see as the best possible system. Even her approach won’t be easy given GOP resistance. But unlike Sanders’ program, it actually has a chance of happening.

Steve Chapman is a Tribune columnist and member of the editorial board. Follow him on Twitter @SteveChapman13 and Facebook.